GameCentral readers name the games they’ve had the best value for money from, including everything from Overwatch to Elite Dangerous.

With all the controversy surrounding loot boxes at the moment, the subject for this week’s Hot Topic tried to find more positive examples of spending money on video game. But the topic wasn’t just concerned with how much you paid for the game but how much you got out of it, and how long you ended up playing it for.

The Orange Box and its five classic games probably should’ve been disqualified, for being just too much of a bargain, but there were plenty of examples of other games that people have played for a long time or were just impressed they didn’t have to pay more for.

Easy win

OK, this is a kind of a cheat since it’s a compilation, but it’s also an answer you are probably going to receive in droves. And it is a valid one since it contained three new titles (Portal, Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life 2: Episode Two).

It’s Valve’s The Orange Box.

Remember, back when Valve made proper games before the, I assume, insane profits from Steam made them lazy? Well, The Orange Box, even if you had Half-Life 2 in your collection, was extraordinary value.

Not only did it give you Half-Life 2, it bundled in the increasingly ambitious follow-ups Half-Life 2: Episode One and, making its debut in this collection, Half-Life 2: Episode Two as you played through Freeman’s journey as he took the fight against the alien invaders, the Columbine, who arrived on Earth due to the incident at Black Mesa in the original Half-Life.

Three triple-A games, essentially, but Valve weren’t finished there, and also included Team Fortress 2, the follow-up to the game Team Fortress, which was developed on the Quake engine, with the follow-up being created by the same team who Valve hired to create the sequel – this time utilising their Source engine, a fork of the Quake engine they created to drive Half-Life 2.

They didn’t even stop there though and almost, staggeringly, as an aside included the first person puzzler Portal, which quickly drew acclaim from critics and gamers alike who agreed this title was easily worth the admission price alone.

Whilst we eventually returned to GLaDOS and Aperture Science with the excellent sequel Portal 2 this collection otherwise represents a swansong to Valve’s heyday as the best first person shooter game creator. With the studio either lacking the nerve/ability to create Half-Life 3 or simply growing content to polish Steam and live off the profits generated by their dominant PC marketplace.

Setting aside any retrospective disappointment or bitterness from fans over the lack of a conclusion to Freeman and Alyx Vance’s adventures in Half-Life 2, The Orange Box represents both stunning value and a collection of games from a studio at the absolute peak of their powers.

If only Gabe Newell would let his team pick up that crowbar once more…Graham

A whole new world

This has got to be Skyrim. It’s kind of a broad question, so maybe there won’t be any one game that people mention but to me the obvious answer is The Elder Scrolls V. I have put hundreds of hours into the game, twice now with the Special Edition and I can happily admit that if I had a Switch or PlayStation VR I probably would’ve bought it four times.

I was never really into role-playing games before this but Skyrim is just the most immersive world and playing it you really do feel like you’re stepping into an alternate reality. Once you begin to get places with it everything becomes second nature and you feel like some kind of Conan the Barbarian type crossed with a Jedi. It’s awesome and all the little details and trying to set up your home or craft the perfect armour adds so much too it.

There’s not even much DLC either, or least none that you have to get to make I good value. Considering how games are getting now I don’t know if it’ll ever be beaten.Station

Who’s counting?

I don’t know if it really was or not but I want to say Phantasy Star Online. I played that game for so long and enjoyed myself so much they could’ve charged me pretty much anything and I still would’ve thought it was good value.

Nowadays I suppose it’d be filled with loot crates and microtransactions but at the time it was such a new an unusual idea I loved it. Don’t really understand why Sega never tried to modernise it. Instead they just let Capcom eat their lunch with Monster Hunter.Siris

Elite example

The first game that sprung to mind for me is Elite Dangerous. I’ve never really played a MMO before, and although that’s not really what I’d class the game as I know it technically is. MMOs don’t generally have subscriptions anymore, but Elite does have lots of DLC options if you want to pay for them, and so far I’ve bought all the big ones.

There’s a simple reason for that, a cunning secret that a lot of publishers don’t seem to have worked out yet: they’re really good and excellent value for money. I’ve played the game for hundreds of hours and really enjoyed it. But what I’ve been particularly impressed by is the way they’ve teased new features and added them in.

Everything with the Thargoid aliens has been handled really well and has kept the whole community excited and talking about it. I guess Elite Dangerous must also count as a games as a service, which has been getting a lot of criticism lately, but to me this is proof that it can work out.SLDR

Bargain of the year

I always find game of the year editions to be good value for money as they seem to include everything that went at the time of the game’s release and all that was released afterwards. The price is also good for these special editions when they come out, which is around the £25 mark. This is good as you’ll get all of the DLC that was released, which can cost up to a tenner each for extended side quests or an additional main game extension, plus any map packs or items for nearly half price of what the original normal game cost at release.

Some of the best deals at the moment are Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive edition, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Dragon Age: Inquisition Game of the Year Editions. In some cases these are under £20 and the fact the above were well received games and worth every penny is the icing on the cake.

The above are also new games at these prices and still in a cellophane wrapper from the factory where they were made. So you get an edition with no history and no signs of wear and tear like you’d get from a possible bargain bin or bargain shop. Unless they are selling from a non-sale of that game originally and just reduced the price over the years.

That is what I do and the only exception is if I can’t wait to get the game. But if I can wait and get through a backlog then I can get the original at a reduced price or the Game of the Year edition around a year and a bit later. I don’t like getting second-hand games unless it’s a game not sold any more and I have no choice. But usually these are eBay type purchases were bargains are not involved and collectors will pay above the odds for these older and much sought after items.

So to summarise, I sometimes get bargain priced games a while after the initial release for a reduced price (new and the special edition if possible) as I want the confidence this game is 100% working and will not have a problem with it. Obviously bugs and glitches may be patched by now also, which is another good reason to get the game at a later date.Alucard

Handsome bargain

I have to say the best value game I’ve got is the Borderlands: The Handsome Collection on PlayStation 4, which cost me £16 on one of the store sales last year!

I’ve played through Borderlands 2 and most of the DLC and love it! I’ve easily put over 20 hours into it as a level 37 Siren! And I’ve got the Pre-Sequel to start yet! Would love to see a (good) port of the handsome collection on Switch! Please make that happen Nintendo!Charlie Ridgewell

Fighting talk

Rayman Legends is incredible value for money – even the new one on the Switch. It is essentially two games in one, providing you with most of the content from its predecessor too! That being said, ironically, I would have given the game full marks without it. As the Origins stuff, excepting the treasure chest chases, are not as polished as the Legends content and drag the game down. If only a little.

But besides that, there are still the daily and weekly challenges which can be enormous fun. My personal favourite is the Infinite Tower. And although I haven’t partaken in a while, I am sure to go back to it fairly soon.

Sonic Mania is great value, too. Resident Evil 4 – probably any version – is good value for money. You get a lot of game for your buck, there.

Fighting games can struggle, here – with only NetherRealm Studios having learnt the most pertinent lessons from early SoulCalibur. I think that it can be hard for the likes of Capcom and Tecmo to shake off the genre’s arcade origins. We’re meant to own these games not just waste a couple of coins on them.

Oh, and even if I did get a game cheap, I only consider it great value if I can honestly say I would have bought it even if it were £40-45. I remember buying Virtua Fighter 3 for my Dreamcast at only a fiver. Can’t go wrong with that, I thought. Especially with such a well-regarded name. Pah! I was ripped off by at least a tenner.DMR